


Scars

by ineedhelpwithmylifern



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Co-Written, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Jay is good, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, he is my son, idk when this takes place, plasmashipping, probably before s6, yeah - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2018-11-30
Packaged: 2019-08-01 19:21:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16290278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ineedhelpwithmylifern/pseuds/ineedhelpwithmylifern
Summary: The night the first scar came in was jarring. Kai was in his bed, asleep, when the stench of blood woke him up. He sat up and used his arm to wipe his eyes. Bad idea. Something wet was on his arm, and some of it got into his mouth. It tasted like metal.It tasted like blood.Kai had just gotten his first scar from his soulmate, but who is it? As Kai struggles to find him/her, a fellow teammate, Jay, runs off from home for unknown reasons, leaving Kai to struggle even more with his surging emotions.(aka the au where my friend and I destroy jay)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome! This is ineedhelpwithmylifern, and this is a collab fic with me and a friend, Whiskers Da Catfoosh (on wattpad)
> 
> So enjoy this soulmate AU i so desperately needed that I wrote and dragged my friend into.

Kai traced the scar over his eye. He still hadn’t found his soulmate. He knew that everyone’s soulmates developed over time, but- He sighed. He doubted that his soulmate was anywhere near him at this point. Or that he even had one.

He saw no one with a scar over the same eye. His teammates hadn’t either. No scars had appeared, and for all he knew his soulmate was careful.

Or just that they hadn’t developed that connection yet.

He knew that Jay had joked about him not having a soulmate _yet_ either, but Kai had mostly dismissed that, as Zane was speaking with him about it one night. For all Kai knew, Cole didn’t have one at all.

The night the first scar came in was jarring. Kai was in his bed, asleep, when the stench of blood woke him up. He sat up and used his arm to wipe his eyes. _Bad idea._ Something wet was on his arm, and some of it got into his mouth. It tasted like metal.

_It tasted like blood._

He quickly dashed out of the room, bumping into Jay, who seemed to be tired himself, walking back to the shared room. Jay didn’t seem to notice and/or care that there was blood on Kai’s face.

As the fire ninja made his way into the bathroom, he turned on the lights. He squinted, the light was a stark contrast to the dark hallways. He looked into the mirror, a faint red streak across his face. He quietly washed it off, the water cool against his warm skin.

Kai looked to his arm, the blood coming through his pajamas. He cleaned as much out as he could before rolling up the sleeve. A bleeding cut, clear and easy to see, right across his wrist. He was sharing the pain with his soulmate.

He rinsed it with water once again, before wrapping it with a bandage. He exited the bathroom, one thought raging in his mind.

_Why was his soulmate doing that?_

* * *

 

Kai was up a little later than usual the next few days, blaming it on missed sleep. Jay seemed to be out of it as well, but it wasn’t as far-fetched.

He clenched his hand, punching the punching bag used for training. He had gained the first scar from his soulmate. And it wasn’t a small insignificant one. He punched the bag. Not a cool battle one. Another punch. No, it looked like self harm.

The first one could have been a mistake, but the other ones, the next ones were in succession. All straight across, all in a line. They were purposeful. They weren’t going to fade any time soon. So, Kai made a promise to himself to when he found his soulmate, he would help them through it.

But that was only _when_ he found his soulmate. It could be a long time off from now.

He punched the bag once more, his teeth gritted. As Cole entered the room, Kai looked over, the punching bag hitting Kai and making him fall over. “Cole, really?”

“Why are you so mad?” The earth elemental pulled him up, looking him in the eye.

“I’m not mad,” Kai grumbled, getting a glare from Cole. “Fine, I _am,_ but it’s nothing, just something small and-”

The black ninja grabbed the red ninja by the shoulders. “I can tell that something is bothering you. It’s not nothing.”

The fire elemental looked off to the side, a frown on his face. “Fine,” He mumbled, pulling up his sleeve, waiting for Cole’s reaction. He felt the other grab his arm, tracing the scars.

“You’ve been… Cutting?” He was quiet, watching Kai.

“No! I haven’t- It’s just that..” Cole still looked at Kai skeptically. “…. It’s, my soulmate. Something’s wrong with whoever he or she is. They have been hurting themselves on purpose, and I don’t think they have realized yet that they have a soulmate yet.”

“You mean?” Cole whispered.

“I have a soulmate, and now…” Kai shook his head.

“Ok, ok, stop right there.” Cole said. “One. YOU HAVE A SOULMATE….? Two. Your ‘soulmate’ is trying to hurt themself. Ok, What?” Cole asked, his face twisting into a perplexed look.

“I just realized this- The first mark was from self harm.” Kai hugged himself. “I don’t want it to get worse. Ya know what I mean?” His eyes glistened with unshed tears. He normally wouldn’t let this stuff show, but _now_ it was coming out.

“Of course! We need to find who your soulmate is, and fast! Never know what they could do next. I’ll help you out, don’t worry.” Cole patted Kai’s back. _Kai never cries, unless if it’s over his sister._ “We’ll find them, don’t you worry. Do we want to keep this a secret? Or do we want to have the others help?”

“I don’t know yet, maybe keep this to ourselves for now?” Red asked, brushing a fallen strand of hair out of his face.

Black nodded. “For now, do you just want to train?” With a curt nod, they began to train for a while in a comfortable silence, only their thoughts and the sounds of the equipment to fill it.

* * *

 

Kai didn’t know how soulmates worked. _At all._ He didn’t know how the scars worked. He knew nothing.

That was Jay’s thoughts when he saw the mark across his eye, the makeup rubbing off, pretty much identical to Kai’s scar. He had recovered it with makeup, to keep anyone, especially _him_ , from seeing and knowing.

No use in hurting the other ninja any more than he probably already was. It could even be unrequited. Jay couldn’t tell at this point. He would soon discover as his eyebrow scar would most likely appear soon, _if_ it wasn’t only him, of course.

Jay looked at his arm once more, sneering at the marks. Kai most likely would have started to see them by now, it was most likely that his first scar from Jay would be one of them.

Jay’s first scar was of course the eye scar. It had started to bleed in the middle of a mission, sticking his eye shut. He had tried his best to excuse himself, as he was partnered with Zane at the time, the nindroid giving him an odd looking before waving him off.

Jay had ducked behind a tree, tearing off his mask. He used the nearby stream to look at this reflection, the water clean and clear. A long scratch was through his eyebrow, and down to under his eye.

He did his best at cleaning it off, the scrape still red and angry. _It must be the first scar from my soulmate._ He would most likely be questioned by Zane, so he took the headband from his mask, wrapping it around his head so that it covered his eye and the scratch to hide it from the ice ninja and so the blood could stop flowing.

He walked back, Zane welcoming him almost immediately. “You alright? And why did you cover your eye up?”

Jay shooed the white ninja off quickly before he could notice. “I just hit a branch, that’s all. Nothing to worry about!” With an odd look from the nindroid, he added, “Well, the branch snapped back and hit _me.”_

“Are you going to be okay for the rest of the mission?” Jay knew he would be fine, but he needed to cover up the scar before anyone else could see.

“I’ll be fine, just we might need to hurry up, that’s all.” He shook Zane off of his shoulder and they continued the mission quickly.

_The scratch still stung._

The night after the mission, it turned out that he wasn’t the only one who had damaged their eye. Kai had a long scratch in the same place, dried blood around it. Apparently, a sword had pierced him there, barely missing his eye, keeping it for another day.

Kai gave him a wave and an odd look, pointing to his own eye and then to Jay’s. The lightning ninja waved him off, hoping he would not realize what the marks really were. Jay had hurried to the bathroom, ignoring the recognizable calls of the others, and covered the long scratch with basic foundation.

A knock was heard on the wall outside the bathroom.

“Hey Jay, you okay?” It was Cole. _What does he want? Just to bug me about the mission?_

“Ugh, do you have to bother me now? I’m busy.” Jay snapped at the Earth ninja.

“Jeez man, chill out. How was the mission?” Cole came in and leaned on the wall behind Jay, looking at him through the mirror. He looked ready to ask what the lightning ninja was doing, but kept his mouth shut, waiting for a reasonable answer.

“Fine. Nothing really happened though, and it was pretty boring.” Cole knew there was more to the story. Just by a skeptical look of Cole’s, he could get just about any information out of a person. “Stupid twig got my eye, so I gotta cover it up.”

“Why?” Black prodded Blue. He couldn’t tell him, not in a million years.

“Because it kind of looks like Kai’s scratch, _but it’s not._ I don’t want anyone to think incorrectly that I have a soulmate, you know?” Jay’s palms started to sweat. _Please no. Do not tell him anymore!_

Cole raised an eyebrow. “Uh huh. You _don’t_ have a soulmate.”

“No! I mean, yeah! Uh, I don’t have a soulmate, OK? Now just go, I don’t feel like talking right now.” He shoved the Earth Ninja away, threatening him to keep his big mouth shut, and continued covering the scar up.

Cole narrowed his eyes at the lightning ninja, before leaving the bathroom grumpily.

He heard the fire ninja explaining the fight from outside. He leaned against the wall, listening, sliding down into a sitting position.

_Kai really didn’t know how soulmates worked._

* * *

 

Jay found himself hiding on his bunk one night, the darkness enveloping him. It was quiet, except for Cole’s snores. He began to hum, hoping that maybe it could help him sleep. It didn’t. The room kept the same way for a while until he heard a rustling from one of the other beds.

Kai jumped down, shuffling out of the room, maybe to the bathroom. Jay rolled his eyes, sitting up and holding his legs. Not much he could do. Creating a ball of lightning in his hand, it emitted a slight blue glow, calming the ninja who controlled it slowly.

After a small amount of time, the door creaked, the fire ninja entering the room again. He gave Jay a look seeming if he was asking if he couldn’t sleep. Blue nodded, and Red came over to his bunk, climbing up.

“You alright?” Kai’s whisper made Jay look up, snuffing out the ball of electricity.

“Y-yeah,” Jay stuttered, hoping the makeup on the scar was still there. “I’m good, just can’t sleep.” He moved his legs, resorting to hugging himself.

“Ah, me neither.” The fire ninja sat there, his legs crossed. Jay would have made the joke ‘criss cross applesauce’ if it wasn’t such a quiet moment. Almost melancholy.

Jay sniffed, looking at Kai. Red probably didn’t notice, but Blue noticed that a scar was lining its way right next to the one from the sword, an eyebrow notch. He resisted the urge to reach out and trace it, to see if it really _was_ true.

They sat like that for a while before Kai jumped back down and returned to his own bed.

Jay was alone again.

* * *

 

Kai was oblivious and didn’t notice the scar inking itself on his eyebrow.

He wasn’t as oblivious when Jay vanished.

The day after the night they had sat together on the bed, he had straight up disappeared. Not a trace. No clues, no nothing. He was gone.

They sent out a few searches, all coming back completely negative.

It was then he saw another mark on his wrist, and a long scar on the other arm. It was new, and it obviously was not self-harm.

He also noticed that another part of his eyebrow was losing hair. Another scar, he assumed, but it was familiar.

Kai dismissed himself, going out on his own to find Jay.

* * *

 

Jay had left on his own accord, dashing through the snow in an attempt to escape. As soon as he knew Kai was out, he filled a tiny handbag with his makeup and snacks and left the house.

 _Where am I going to go?_ Jay stopped. He never thought about where he was heading off to. He thought of places he could go, but nothing stood out to him as a place to go. The ninja would find him too easily.

So, he ran. He quickly summoned his dragon to stop his tracks and headed towards the forest, not knowing that his father’s was just up ahead. He passed a house, alone in the dense woods, and figured that was where he could hide. He landed his dragon, more branches scraping his arms, and jogged up to the large property. The house looked almost brand new. _Whoever lives here looks rich….._

Jay hoped someone was home, the house looked warm and comforting, a fiery glow emanated from one of the windows, and he thought of Kai. He had just left him there, not knowing that none other than the depressed Blue Ninja was his soulmate. He knocked on the door, now able to see his faint breaths in the cold. A shadow zipped through the comforting glow, grabbing hold of the door on the other side from where he was standing.

“Hello?” A quick flashback was triggered by the new voice, _or was it new?_ A faint picture of a movie. It was the one he had watched with Nya and Cole, starring Fritz Donegan. Jay looked up, the door was open just a crack, not enough to see what was inside.

“Uh, hi! This is J-Jay, master of Light-tning. Mind if I stay the night?” The door opened a little more, revealing none other than… “F-Fritz Donegan!? Oh my gosh! I am so sorry for interrupting you! I-”

“Jay?” Fritz’s voice sounded curious and longing. “You, you have returned…” His eyes widened as he said those words, and the lightning master froze.

“W-hat? What do you mean by ‘returned’ perhaps?” Jay felt a flush of importance suddenly.

“Oh! You must be freezing out there, come on in _son_ .” Jay immediately perked up and rushed inside towards the warmth of the house, it smelled like freshly baked cake. He looked around the neat house, pictures of all of Donnegan’s movies and shows were proudly displayed on the walls, and a giant figure of Donegan stood next to the stairs, occasionally yelling “ _Fear isn’t a word where I come from!”_

Jay blinked, the odd feeling of dread easing away. This was just the movie star. He was nothing special, but when he had said ‘ _You have returned…’_ What did he mean by that?

“It’s been a while,” The man asked, Jay looked over his shoulder to find fresh cupcakes, all in a shiny blue coating with a lightning symbol across the middle. His ears started to burn.

“Been a while? What do you mean? What am I supposed to know here?” Donnegan’s warm and gentle face then slumped into sorrow.

“I’m sorry, I guess I haven’t introduced myself fully. I am Cliff Gordon, your father.” The man held out his hand for Jay to shake it, the younger slowly accepting it.

“So, wait. I don’t know if I believe you. How do I know you aren’t lying? My parents would probably have told me at this point, and you just telling me this _out of the blue_ just doesn’t help your case.”

“I’m sorry, I guess I just left you there. In front of the trailer. I was scared, especially after Libber-” Cliff cut himself off. “Well, after your mother disappeared, _I_ was scared that I wouldn’t be able to take care of you on my own, so I left you with the couple in the junkyard. They must’ve kept you,” He rubbed his arm, “If you don’t believe me, I guess it’s fine. If you need me to call them we can-”

A crash sounded from the other side of the house, almost as if someone had broken in through a window. The sound of glass shattering. Cliff froze, placing down the plate on a table, and Jay’s hands lit up with lightning.

They stalked around the mansion, looking for the culprit, an icy chill drifting around the empty house. Cliff had a flashlight, Jay had his lightning, casting eerie glows of their own.

 _Another Crash._ A pot being smashed, presumably. Jay stepped ahead of the movie star who was claiming to be his father and cried out, “Who’s there?”

_Something dashed by them, a slight breeze blowing by._

“I just asked, who’s there?” He yelled, the chill overcoming him.

There was some uttering, before everything went by in a blur. Some people attacked. Jay didn’t get a good look at them in the dark, but he managed to shock a few of them.

He heard Cliff scream.

The last thing he knew before blacking out was the feeling of something going into his arm, twisting, and then cutting down…


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Kai struggles to find him/her, a fellow teammate, Jay, runs off from home for unknown reasons, leaving Kai to struggle even more with his surging emotions. When Jay meets the man of his dreams, Cliff Gordon Aka. Fritz Donegan, an old enemy takes advantage of the two’s ‘reunion’ and captures them, leaving a bloody trail behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *clap*  
> next chappie!!!  
> it might be a bit for the next one but, *shrug*

Kai flew through the cold air, a light snowfall turning into a full-on blizzard. The snow melted and turned into steam as it hit his dragon, but it didn’t help.

There was no sign of Jay, just the darkness and the snow reflecting light from his dragon. He tried to get a signal- a hint- anything that could help him find the blue ninja.

Kai knew it was a hard task- he had to save him. He _had_ to. He couldn’t lose a teammate, no matter how much he would ever wish. He landed for a break, the snow twirling around him. He found a nook in an oak tree, the cold coming in slowly.

When he awoke the next morning, snow had drifted its way up against the hole, some of it falling in. He melted it, making it easy for him to get out. The sun was blaring down on the snow as he resummoned his dragon, taking off once more.

The wind was light that morning. Kai was flying above the land, high up. _There were no signs._ He landed on the outskirts of Ninjago city, almost giving up hope, wanting to just wait for a sign to come instead of searching. It was just pointless.

He trudged through the snow, coming to a small crime scene. He ran up to the officers there. “What happened here, and why weren’t we notified?”

One of the officers looked to him. “I have no idea why you weren’t notified, I thought you were, but there was a break in. We haven’t been here for long. You are a ninja, you willing to come in with?”

Kai nodded, the group entering the building, a few officers already in. Red’s hand lit up with fire, searching the building quickly. It wasn’t long before someone yelled, having found something.

The fire ninja ran quickly to a room, a window smashed in, and snow dusting in. They continued on, a blood stain on the floor. Kai’s hand lit up, filling the room with a fiery glow. An officer turned on a light, prompting Kai to snuff it out.

The stain was still wet, a dagger left in the middle. He glanced around, seeing a scrap of cloth on the floor nearby. He grabbed it.

It was the exact color of Jay’s gi.

The officers were testing the blood.

Kai had doubt nagging at his mind, but fear was most prominent.

Someone was talking.

The world was floating in and out for the ninja.

“You- test- someone?” The words were barely audible.

“Jay…” He gasped, the blood was too much. There was too much for anyone to be fine from a wound like that.

More talking. A whirring noise, and then someone asking for something. The scrap of cloth was taken from Kai’s hand.

“It’s Jay.” The officer mumbled before talking into his com, “The blue ninja and Cliff Gordon both seem to be missing- blood. Blood, a large pool. Yes. Send for the rest of the ninja. We have the red one here.”

The confirmation was enough to make Kai panic.

\---

Jay woke up blearily, his arm almost feeling as if it was splitting open. It was wrapped with something. He pushed himself up with his good arm, looking around. “Where am I?”

“Well, why would _I_ tell you that?” A hiss was heard from a dark place in the room. “It’s nice to know you somewhat care, but what am I saying?” A few random people surrounded him. “Of course, it’s great to be holding a ninja hostage…” Pythor came slithering into view, his head going close to Jay’s. “Now, you may be wondering why…”

The lightning ninja gave him a foul look. “Yea, not much of a mystery there.” He hissed at the pain in his arm. “And where is Cliff?”

“Cliff? You mean the man who was with you? He’s fine, he’s just with some people I swear would have _loved_ to meet him, just maybe not in this situation, hm?” Pythor turned to one of the goons surrounding the two. “Would you please lower the cage?”

The person nodded quickly, running off to the First Spinjitzu Master knows where. A rumble shook the area, a cage descending from the ceiling, the occupants reaching out for him. Cliff… And his mom and dad.

His eyes widened, “What did you do, and what are you doing to them?”

“Well, holding a superstar hostage helps me, and with him, _and_ your adoptive parents hostage you _will_ do our bidding, would you not?”

“Wait- you slimy son of a-” Jay tried to jump at the snake, but was held back and gagged by the goons. His arm was burning. All of this was confusing him. _Pythor was saying he was adopted, too._

“Simply just follow our rules, and they will all be _just fine…_ ” Pythor grinned sickly, bringing a pang of worry into Jay’s chest. “But, in order for you to be useful, you need to be both healthy and on our side. Your arm will be _just fine…_ ”

The lightning ninja attempted to break away, the goons keeping him in one spot. He felt something in his arm tear, blood seeping through the wrap on his arm. The dizziness from earlier was returning,  black spots clouding his vision.

Jay blacked out once again, the feeling of being there fading.

\---

Kai clenched his fist, watching Zane and Nya examine the blade and Cole walking in and out of the hallway from time to time. Lloyd sat next to him, a worried look in his green eyes.

“He’s probably okay, Jay’s strong.” The green ninja said, placing his hand on the fire ninja’s shoulder.

Kai huffed, not saying anything. He had gone out looking. He was the one who had found out Jay was gone. He put his face in his hands, groaning.

“It’ll be okay,” Lloyd looked like he was about to cry. The younger boy looked off to the side. “We’ve been captured all before, but it’s never seemed _this_ bad.” Hugging himself, he added, “It’s a lot of blood.”

Red dismissed himself to the bathroom, closing the door and collapsing onto the floor. His head was in his hands again, his eyes burning, filling with hot, angry tears. He wanted to punch something.

He couldn’t tell why. He felt as if something was happening and he couldn’t change it, that nothing would be alright in the end. He stood up. The mirror was there. He got up to look at himself. His hair was disheveled, a mess. _Why?_

Kai traced his scar on his face. His soulmate had that too. He traced the long scar on his arm. It looked like it hurt, like it could’ve lost the other a lot of blood.

Then it clicked. _It_ appeared after _Jay_ disappeared. He looked in the mirror. Right next to his own scar was a smaller, less noticeable scar that had made of of his eyebrow go away. It was just like Jay’s.

 _Jay_ was his soulmate.

The self-harm scars and the blade scar on his arm were from _Jay._

Kai punched the mirror, the glass shattering.

\---

Jay couldn’t _feel_ anything. It was like he was wading through something thicker than water, his mind clouded with it. He knew something was wrong, he could tell.

He could feel something in his arm, it was odd. Something else was there, keeping him out of his mind. He could think, he was there, but not in control. He had tried to get back but there was no point, the watery silence was there, keeping him stuck. Immobile.

All was quiet.

He looked around, hoping to see anything he could recognize. He could see things, mainly the walls and a few tables, but he could not interact with them. He could not turn his head though, he couldn’t move anything. Jay started to panic.

_Why can’t I move? What’s going on? Where IS everyone?_

Jay tried to speak, but even his mouth was sealed shut and unable to move. _No, no, NO!_

Suddenly, he was forced back, him tumbling off the table, but his body remained lifeless on the table. He could move now though, which was a start. He looked down at his arm, which he couldn’t feel at all now.

It was transparent.

The now ghost boy lept backwards, trying to get away from his arm, which was still physically attached to his also transparent body. He looked back at his body in horror.

_Oh my god… I’m dead._

\---

Kai looked at the shards of glass around him, the mirror destroyed and in pieces. He would get Jay back. He clenched his fist, welcoming the blood that was on his hand. It was cut, but maybe that was something.

Everything was falling.

The fire ninja bursted out of the bathroom, running to Nya and Zane. He grabbed the dagger before stabbing it into the table. “His arm…” He muttered, looking up. “Do you know what the blade is from?”

Nya looked at her brother. “It looks like it could be made to _look_ like one of the fangblades. But, it seems to be more versatile and sharper. Easy to tear something, or _someone_ apart.” She handed it to Kai. “But not enough to plunge into someone’s heart and kill them.”

Zane nodded. “Which means Jay was most likely _not_ killed right away, unless his throat was slit. But by the amount of blood, I doubt that.”

Kai rolled his eyes, wiping his hand on his gi, the blood hardly appearing due to the red color. “I know where he was hurt.”

Cole, who was sitting off to the side, gained a light in his eyes, looking right to Kai. Lloyd spoke up. “How is that? I don’t think you can just tell us where its from, unless-” Green paused. “Oh.”

Water shivered. “So, was it life-threatening? Like, the neck, the chest-”

Fire pulled his sleeve down, taking his arm out of his gi, making the long scar fully visible. “I don’t know, but it looks really bad.”

“It does look bad, the scar looks as if it got really deep in,” Ice proclaimed as he looked at the scar, “I didn’t know you and Jay were soulmates, Kai.”

Kai laughed. “Just found out, do you not see the notch in my eyebrow. Just like his.” He rubbed his arm, putting it back into the sleeve. “I might get his scars, but he might not get mine, I mean-”

“I assumed that you were.” Cole mumbled.

“What?” Kai looked over. “How?”

“Remember the night you got your eye scar?”

Kai nodded, crossing his arms.

“Well, Jay came rushing in, with his bandana _under_ his mask, got one look at you and ran straight to the bathroom. I checked in on him, and he explained that a _twig_ snapped back and hit him in the face. Said the mark it made looked too much like your wound, so he was covering it up. Now, seeing this, I know you are soulmates. It’s not unrequited.”

The fire ninja’s eyes widened, “Then… That makes so much sense, if I had only known-” He sighed. “What if he’s not okay?”

“Well, we’d know if he passes, the scars would disappear. That’s how it works, right?” Lloyd piped up, the others around him nodding. “So that means that he’s fine, or at _least_ still alive.”

“Then we search, right?” Cole asked, standing up, Lloyd following his actions.

“First we figure out who made this Fangblade.” Nya stated, glaring at the object.

“Who would make a fangblade in the first place? It wouldn’t even work and the Great Devourer is dead.” Kai muttered, picking at his nail, trying to stifle the anger at whoever did this to Jay- That person would pay dearly-

“It was most likely made to both be modeled after it to be a resemblance, along with it being something to know the group by. But the group is unknown to me at least.” Zane had gotten the dagger back, and was now scanning it over. His eyes widened. “There is an engravement that I _know_ wasn’t on any of the fangblades.”

“What?” All of them said, at the somewhat same time.

“It’s a snake with fangs like actual blades and a tail dripping with _something_ , but it is pressed in, unlike any of the fangblades, which had all the markings scratched in. I’m guessing that this symbol has something with the people that captured and now have Jay.”

“So, what I’m guessing is that it has _something_ to do with the serpentine, or at least someone who idolises them,” Nya ventured, “For all we know, it could be one person, or a whole group. It could be someone we’ve never met before, or one of our past enemies. It has to be someone who wanted to either target Cliff Gordon, Jay, or us. There’s no telling what will happen. All we know is that they are doing _something_ to Jay, and we need to stop it.”

They all muttered agreements, the room in tense silence.

Kai grabbed the blade, as if he was going to wield it. “Let’s get looking.”

\---

The girl was standing, watching. She watched the ninja’s vitals, making sure he wasn’t dead. She wasn’t their doctor. She was only there to keep an eye on him and make sure that if anything happened, to report it to someone who knew what to do.

She was getting tired, standing around wasn’t her forte. She would rather jump and kick and destroy, what she joined the group to do, alongside the revenge she wanted to the green ninja and the rest of his stupid team.

She wanted to just kill the blue one. But, alas, there were more _important_ things that they could so with the boy. So, she waited. She followed his orders and kept watch.

When the ‘doctor’ came in and told her that the blue boy was in a coma and to tell Boss that, her spirits both sunk _and_ soared.

One, that meant that he was out for the count. One less ninja to worry about in their plan. Two , that meant that _she_ had to deal with the boss. She wringed her hands as she waited. It wasn’t too long before he entered the small room.

“What’s wrong with him.” _Oh no._ “I was told to come see you…” Boss was here.

“Lin told me that he was in a coma.” She shook as she spoke. “I don’t know what it will do to our plan, Boss.”

The snake nodded, his eyes scanning over the ninja’s body. “You know how bad this is to our plan, I can tell you’re lying” The hiss came out with a bite. “He’s better be better by when it’s time for it to fold out…”

“Boss, I don’t know if that’s how-”

“Don’t talk to me like that.”

She held her tongue.

“He had better be ready by that time, or there _will_ be consequences. Got it?” He paused before slithering to the door.

“Got it,” She mumbled, before her eyes lit up. “What if I made a detour in the plan so if he doesn’t wake up by then, it still can carry out somewhat as needed.”

The boss stopped in his tracks. “If you could do that, I may just promote you from this place and put another in your place, _girl.”_

He left the room, leaving her to brainstorm a plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bother me at ineedhelpwithmylifern.tumblr.com  
> bother whiskers on her wattpad.  
> bother both of us in the comments ;)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a bit of a shorter chap, but it's here!!
> 
> Edited as of 11/1/18

Jay gasped as the room seemed as it was closing in on him. The shadows were there, beckoning him in, wanting him to go. But he couldn’t, he had to make sure he was fine. Was he dead? The room was still eerily silent. He noticed someone in the corner, but he ignored them, as it seemed to be nothing.

It was a while before someone came in, a doctor, he assumed, as they were checking his vitals. He walked forward to try and speak with the person, but they walked right through him and out of the room, after uttering something with the word ‘coma’ to the other in the room. He forgot about it.

Jay decided to leave the room, something he wasn’t as comfortable with. There were people all over, nobody paying him any mind. As if he was invisible. A ghost.

He rushed through, ice pouring through his veins, the fear becoming too real. He was dead. Was dead. Dead. It took him a while to leave the foreboding hallway, stopping to a doorway which had stairs to one side and led into a large, dome-ish room.

The lightning ninja decided to go up the stairs, having a few uneventful tries where he couldn’t get his footing. He made his way up, a few steps bringing a problem, but nothing else much. When he reached the top, a bridge bridging out to a cage, containing three people.

Jay blinked, walking up to the metal container, looking at the people inside: his parents and Cliff.

“I’m sorry I just left him there, I should have just told you, or at the very least, left more of a note than just his name.” Cliff mumbled.

His ma looked up, tears in her eyes, “It’s okay, I just did wish for more. At least you’re here now, even though Jay really never had a good conversation with you. All we can do is hope.”

They weren’t noticing him. “Jay will need us if he comes back.” His father was comforting his mother, looking to Cliff, a sad look on his face.

“I just feel so bad that right when I meet him, some _group_ decides to come and get us. Possibly killing him.”

They sat in a strained silence. Jay attempted to come in and comfort them, but he fazed through the cage, falling, _falling,_

**_Falling._ **

\---

Kai had gone out first. He would be the one to find Jay. He would find him no matter what.

It was a bit of a surprise when Cole followed him out, asking to speak with him. They had flown for a bit before stopping, sitting and going to talk.

“So it’s Jay who was..?” Cole asked, Kai solemnly nodding. “That explains some of it. But, why?” The silence was almost deafening. “He had better be okay so I can talk to him.”

Kai laughed. “He will be. I’ll make sure of it.”

They sat there for a while before heading out once more, their dragons their only tool besides one another.

\---

“AHHH!”

Jay’s scream echoed only to himself in the room as he fell to the ground, a second death awaiting him.

When he hit the ground, a sharp pain hit him, the impact hurting. But as soon as it appeared, it was gone. There was no pain. Only the nothingness of being a spirit or ghost or whatever he was. _How did Cole survive being one?_

At least Cole could be seen by other people. Jay could not. It was what was worrying him the most. What if he was stuck like this forever? What if there was no escape? What if the ninja gave up on him?

Well, Jay would try to not give up.

Wait no.

Jay _wouldn’t_ give up.

He would continue on, and make sure he wouldn’t be stuck like this. Even if it was the last thing he would ever do.

He began following goons around, looking for an exit. Every turn he made, every path he walked, helped him learn the place better. A place he could get around and understand. This was good. It would help him. He knew it.

One day, he ran into a room with plenty of scrolls, titles ranging from  _The Ninja of Ninjago,_ _Who are the Ninja?_ and  _Elemental Powers- What they Are, Where_ _they_ _Come From, and More!_ to others like  _The Secrets of Dark Magic, Everything Known About Spirits_ and  _The Basics_ _of_ _Magic._

He took a moment to read a bit of his part in an open scroll, coincidentally called  _The Blue Ninja- Why he is my favorite._  He laughed at it, seeing some abnormal reasons why he was better and the others were not- it said that Cole was too hotheaded (boy, how that was wrong.). Jay continued on.

Jay learned the place piece by piece over the next few days, but still no entrance. He would go check on his parents and father every once in a while, but it was more of a find a way out situation.

He had lost track of time. He had no idea how long it had been since he had gotten captured, and possibly killed. So, when he finally found his way out of the fortress, after a _lot_ of trial and error in climbing stairs, he made it out of the place.

It surprised him, that in the thick of Winter, that there was no snow.

Then he realized.

_How long had he been out?_

\---

“Any leads?”

“Not yet.”

It had been almost two months since the the Winter night that Jay and Cliff Gordon had gone missing. In that time, no more clues came up.

Only the news that Ed and Edna Walker had disappeared as well.

It had been a grueling couple of months for the team, only trying their best to figure out what was going on and who had the lightning ninja. It impacted the fire ninja the most.

Kai had been searching the most. He had never known that Jay would be the person of obsession for him. But, before all of _this_ happened, he had found himself thinking of the other ninja, getting lost in his eyes, his bright smile…

But now it was gone until they were to find him. And Kai didn’t want to go without the other. Jay’s jokes and quips could lighten up the mood sometimes when it was needed. And it was _really_ needed at this point.

Kai hummed, the room seeming empty, when in reality, the whole team was there, including a few of the elemental masters, but excluding Jay, of course. Zane was working on something, Cole watching and eating something at the same time.

Nya was standing with Skylor, the two exchanging a few words before walking over to him. Nya spoke up first. “Kai, we need to talk.”

Kai sniffed. “About what?”

Skylor shook her head. “You know what. You can’t just mope around and wait as if something will just _happen._ We’re trying our best, Kai.”

The fire ninja only hugged himself, prompting his sister to place a hand on his shoulder. “Kai, we’ll find him. And, we will make sure that he is okay, it might just take a while.”

Red grumbled, suddenly standing up and storming out of the room. He was done with them talking to him like that. So, he left. He was going to take a break and just wait. He knew Jay was in danger- but maybe he could find a way to get to him.

He summoned his dragon and began on his flight. He didn’t want to speak to any of them right now. He didn’t want to deal with all of their precautions at the moment. Kai wanted to just run in, think later.

The fire ninja flew off, leaving the others behind as Jay had done before.

_Time to play the waiting game._

\---

Jay was panicking again. There was nothing he could do. He had been out for at least a month or two and now he couldn’t be seen, he was a spirit. And it wasn’t helping his case.

So he chose a random direction and began to make his journey.

Before long, he reached a valley that took up a wide area of space.

The area was unfamiliar to him, most likely a part of Ninjago that he hadn’t been to much. As a ninja, he explored many parts of the island, but there were parts that he had never been to, never had fully learned.

There were mountains around him, trees dotting the sides and stretching spaces in the low valley. As Jay walked through, the sharp scent of pine hit his nostrils, a small warm breeze blowing by and signifying the fact it was around the middle of spring.

Jay decided to scale a part of one of the mountains, get a vantage point from up above. As he climbed, small rocks scattered and fell to the ground far beneath. He slipped a few times, but never letting his grip go once. There was no chance that he would follow those rocks to the valley floor below, so he continued on.

He stopped on a ledge to rest for a moment, sitting and looking down o the valley, seeing how far he had gotten already.

Before he could continue up any farther, a voice sounded from behind him.

“Is someone there?”

_It was Kai._


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go, chapter 4. This one comes in at a 2633 word count according to the Google Doc, pretty nice if you ask me.
> 
> Here we have some Cole sections, which I think will become a regular thing, as we might need a little something from the team's view every once in a while.

It was cool and all that that Kai and Jay were soulmates. The real worry was that Jay was gone and they had no idea where he was, except for the few clues they were given. And there weren’t many.

And it wasn’t helping their ninja of fire at all. Nya and Skylor coincidentally were soulmates as well. As if that didn’t make Cole a little jealous. 

He sat in silence as he ate, watching Zane tap away on his computer. The ninja of earth looked over to Lloyd, who was gazing at the ever-present burn scar on his hand. The sign of the younger boy’s soulmate.

It was all too much to bear. Cole knew he didn’t have one. Lou, his father, said that it was common in his family to not have soulmates, except for the fact that the man’s soulmate was Cole’s mother. Not right.

That meant it was most likely that he didn’t have a soulmate. It both made him feel bad, but it was also a good thing for his emotions.

He might’ve had, or  _ has _ a crush on Zane. The titanium ninja. The robot on the team. The one who couldn’t get a soulmate.  _ Unless he could, and I’m just wasting my time. _ He shook the thought out of his head as he worked on concentrating on what Zane was  _ doing _ and not the nindroid  _ himself _ .

Cole spoke nothing about it. It worried him too much.

So, he waited.

He watched Nya and Skylor go over to Kai. The earth ninja heard bits of their conversation, including little things about Jay and them working their best to find him. When Kai stormed off, the girls stood in silence, looks of worry on their faces.

Neither of them made a move to stop the fire ninja.

Cole watched him go, knowing that he would be off again, looking for the lightning elemental, ignoring all protests and warnings.

And,  _ gosh _ , how the earth ninja wanted to do that. He wanted to just run out like that, but he wasn’t known to do that. He didn’t even have a reason. The rest of the team just remained, giving him his time. That’s just how it was.

So, he remained silent. 

...

Kai had just decided to take a break in a cave, as it was getting tiring to keep up on his dragon the whole time. But, life had decided to mess him up and make him think that there was someone outside the cave, out on the ledge. 

He had heard rocks being displaced, scattering around. The fire ninja had peered out to check if anyone was there, but, no one.

_ Until he heard the muttering. _

It was quiet, but it was there, almost as if a ghost was nearby, talking. He tentatively spoke, as if he was too much the ghost would be gone. “Is someone there?”

He heard a yelp. Almost sounded like  _ Jay _ .

_ Unless it was his mind getting to him. _

“Y-you can see me?” A sound responded to him, disembodied, but still Jay’s high-pitched worrying voice.

“I don’t see  _ anyone  _ out there, Jay.” Kai tried to let him know it was him and to see if his suspicions were correct.

“Oh. Kinda hoped that you, my  _ soulmate,  _ through whatever inconsiderable magic, would at least be able to  _ see _ me, but hearing me is something at least.” A pause. “You don’t seem surprised at me saying I’m your soulmate.”

“I’ve known for a while.” It was like talking to nothing, just the air. Like the rocks or the mountain needed him to know something.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“How long has it been since the night I ran, I mean, like, since I disappeared?”

“A few months.” Silence. “I haven’t been keeping track.”

“That makes sense, why the snow is gone. It’s just I’m wondering how long I was out, how long it took me to take  _ this  _ form, and how long I scrounged around that stinky fort-bunker-thing. Heck, those people are the worst I’ve seen- Pythor just had so many-”

Kai interrupted quickly. “Wait one moment.” 

“What?” Jay’s voice echoed quietly.

“Pythor. The snake is back?”

“Y-yeah. He had so many grunts and followers. More than Chen. Way more. They- they got me and now I’m like  _ this _ and I don’t even know if my body is okay and if my arm will be alright- did you see the scar on your arm? It’s bad.”

“Calm down.”

“But what if I can’t come back- What if I’m just a floating voice to just  _ you _ for forever? What if I disappear? What if-”

“I said,  _ calm down.  _ We will,  _ I  _ will find a way to get you back.” He wanted to hug the blue ninja. He just needed help. “The best we can do is figure out what is keeping you like this.”

More silence until Jay spoke up again. “Yeah. And uh, I forgot you can’t see me nod my head.”

Kai laughed.

…

Jay hadn’t been able to summon his dragon, and it was herd for him to get on Kai’s dragon, but they eventually began to fly back to the place where the bounty was. They spoke nothing more about the lightning ninja’s condition; just a few jokes here and there.

Just a quiet flight. Kai would ‘ask’ Wu’s scroll collection about it, as their Master’s disappearance to time was hurting all of them. Without his wisdom to guide them, what were they to do with Jay? Hopefully his library had  _ something _ .

Jay said he didn’t want to talk to anyone. He said he felt too guilty.

Kai didn’t question it. 

So, when they got back to the bounty, they slipped away into Wu’s old quarters, searching for a scroll, a book,  _ something. _ Their attempts were futile for a long while, Kai having heard Jay fall over a few times. Hopefully nobody would hear them, as it  _ was  _ the middle of the night. 

The fire ninja hushed the other, still glancing through the piles and piles of parchment.  _ How did Wu keep all of this on the Bounty? _ Heck, these  _ had _ to be weighing it down somewhat.

He pulled out one more scroll, the disappointment of finding text that could help his soulmate- gosh it was weird thinking about him like that, but it wasn’t something Kai didn’t welcome- began to set in. Red began to read through it, as the title seemed promising.  _ The Scroll of Haunted Insight. _ An odd name, but it had to have some info on what happened to Jay.

He unrolled it, scanning over it quickly. A note was under the title, saying that it was an excerpt from a larger book called  _ Everything known about Spirits _ . He began to read through it, nothing about Jay’s condition popping up just yet.

Jay fell again with a yell, scaring Kai who yelped, dropping the scroll with a clatter. “ _ Jay… _ ” The fire ninja hissed.

“Sorry!” The lightning ninja squeaked, supposedly standing up.

Kai just grumbled. He picked up the scroll once more, humming.

“What’s this?” Jay’s voice appeared behind him. 

“Gosh,  _ stop.”  _ Red hissed, half tempted to see if he could slap Blue. He continued down until he ran into something interesting.

_ Coma Spirits are an odd thing to say the least. They really have no name, and no specific reason as to they exist and/or happen. For all we know, they only happen when the spirit’s mortal body is in a coma-like state, a rare thing that is seen to be that coma, while, in reality, the spirit has left the body, still alive. The spirit, sadly, cannot be seen, an exception being by their soulmate, but in reality, they can only be heard. _

_ Now, the spirit can only be healed by a specific potion (Page 85*) which can be hard to conceive, as it contains the dew of a flower very rare in Ninjago. The best hope is that you can push them through before the spirit fades and the body dies. _

“Fade?” Jay’s voice echoed through the room. “I-I can’t fade. T-that isn’t t-true…”

“That’s what the scroll said, I mean, we don’t even know that this is what is happening to you, It could be just a-”

“No!” Jay’s voice yelled in his ear. He was beginning to panic. “That’s why the doctor person said something about a coma. That’s why only  _ you _ can hear me! This is why all this is happening! If we don’t find the flower or whatever, I’m going to be gone and-”

“Jay!” Kai’s yell cut him off. “We will find that flower. You won’t fade.” His voice dropped to a loud whisper. “We will find the spell in whatever this book is-  _ Everything Known about Spirits- _ and we will make whatever we need to get you back.”

The blue ninja’s whimper was obvious, then a quick “Yeah.” was uttered. Kai looked back to the scroll once more.

The creak of the door was heard. “What’s going on in here?” Zane’s voice startled the both of them, only that Jay’s reaction wasn’t visible.

“I- uh-” Kai didn’t know what to say, it was just a blur.

“Yeah, no point in waking us all up.” Cole was behind the nindroid, rubbing his eyes.

“Well?” Zane asked.

“I uh-” Kai managed to get out again. He whispered to Jay quickly, “You okay with me telling them or-?”

No answer.

“ _ Jay. _ ”

“Who are you talking to?” Cole asked, now wide awake.

Zane had a blank expression.

Jay whispered back quickly. “Sorry- I guess it’s fine.”

“Jay.” Kai stated quickly.

“What about Jay?” Cole asked, his eyes lighting up.

“He’s okay, well not exactly, but he’s just in a coma. And-”

“Coma? How would you know that?” Zane’s statement was curt, as if he was annoyed at Kai. They were all now in the study, staring one another down.

“Who’s yelling?” Nya had walked in, her nightgown still on. Lloyd wasn’t with her, it was most likely that he was still asleep- the younger boy was a heavy sleeper.

“Kai was.” Cole whispered to her. 

She nodded, looking over. “Kai? Are you alright?”

“I am, but Jay isn’t at least he’s alive, and-”

“Kai. How do you know this?” Zane was back to talking. It was scaring him.

“Jay- Jay’s here, you just can’t see him. He’s told me and-”

Nya gasped. Cole whispered to himself, “He’s gone crazy.”

“That is impossible, Kai. If someone is in a coma, they wouldn’t be able to be here. They would entrapped in their body and still in that place. You must be imagining things.”

That was when the fire ninja exploded. “Well? You don’t know anything about spirits, do you? You don’t have all the magic, you don’t know everything. I may not be able to  _ see  _ him, but I can  _ hear  _ him!” He was yelling louder than he had been at Jay just moments before. “Life works in mysterious ways!”

“Kai. Stop. You are clearly overreacting and just being delusional. There is no way that could happen. Also, why would only you be able to-”

“Well, I can hear him cause he’s my soulmate! Ever think of that?” Kai yelled, turning into a sneer. “ _ Oh wait.  _ You wouldn’t know because you are just a robot! Incapable of all the stuff a human can!”

The room went silent. Jay said the fire ninja’s name. As soon as Kai realized what he had said, he shrunk back. But he wasn’t that lucky.

Zane froze for a moment before his eyes went red. He picked the elemental master of fire up by the collar, the scroll he was holding clattering to the ground. “I am  _ not  _ just a robot. I am a nindroid. I may not be able to have a soulmate, but that doesn’t make me any less of a person than  _ you. _ ” The elemental master of ice dropped him. “ _ Remember that. _ ”

Kai scrambled to his feet, fear in his eyes. “J-Jay, let’s go.” He left the room swiftly, not looking back.

…

Jay watched Kai dash out, before freezing and looking to the others. Zane was still seething, Cole was putting is hands up in surrender, and Nya was hiding behind the ninja of earth. 

Blue watched White’s eyes turn from the bright angry red back to their cool icy blue as the nindroid calmed down.

“Zane? Are you alright now?” Cole asked quietly.

Zane shook. “Yes. I do not know what came over me.” He looked around. “Kai ran, did he not?”

Cole and Nya both nodded, shocked by both the nindroid and fire ninja’s outbursts. 

“I did not mean to get so mad at him. I should have listened. What if he was correct?” Zane began to fumble with his fingers.

“It’s okay, I’m sure he will come back.” Cole whispered to his friend.

“Hopefully.”

Jay deflated at their distrust. Noticing the scroll that Kai had dropped, he kicked it over to the group. Nya looked surprised at the scroll’s movement, picking it up and reading through it. “Oh my god. Kai might have been right.”

The lightning ninja.smiled to himself before running out of the room to follow Kai. 

Lloyd stumbled in. “What?”

…

Kai ran out onto the deck quickly. They would surely be following him now. He looked around. “Jay? You here?” It was getting harder to hear himself think over the sound of the rain. “Jay?”

It was a few moments before he got an answer. “Kai!” Jay’s voice was halfway across the deck.

The fire ninja ran over to where he was, becoming worried. “We have to go, Jay. They don’t believe us.”

He heard the lightning ninja mutter something to himself before he answered. “Yeah. I just don’t know about the rain. The ghosts couldn’t touch water, so why could I?”

“You never know if you don’t try.”

“Alright.” There was a moment of silence, which was presumably was him testing the rain. “Okay. We’re good.”

Kai nodded, summoning his dragon. “Let’s go.” He waited for the reply that meant that the other was on and ready to go, ignoring the protests from behind him to stop and come back.

…

Cole ignored the arrival of the last member of their team for a moment when he grabbed the scroll from Nya. “It says here that Coma Spirits are a thing. And that Kai might have been right about it.”

“Then we should catch him, apologize, and help.” Nya piped in, her hair bouncing.

“What’s happening?” Lloyd’s question was ignored once more.

“Let’s go get him then.” Zane muttered.

The earth and water ninjas agreed, running out onto the deck of the Bounty. The rain was pouring, droplets of water falling hard and fast.

Cole caught sight of Kai’s dragon, rearing to spring up and fly. “Wait! Kai!” Either the fire ninja didn’t hear him or was ignoring him.

“Kai!” Nya Yelled, “Kai, please!”

Zane yelled as well, but it was drowned out by the sound of the dragon taking off, the wingbeat loud.

“He’s gone again.” Zane mumbled, the team silently agreeing.

“What? Why are we standing in the rain? Why did Kai leave  _ again? _ ” Their leader was back to asking questions.

...

Kai had been out for a while.

Not been back- still doing whatever he was doing.

But what if he had found Jay?

The fire ninja would probably be off destroying whatever had hurt the other. But he would have told the team…

So, they all just waited for him.

There was no answer for days as the group themselves began to seek out a copy of the book that the scroll was an excerpt from. They could help. If Kai wanted it.  
They did their best.

But there was no telling of what could happen next.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we go! Chapter 4! Hope you all enjoyed. 
> 
> Comment and tell me what you enjoyed or what might've piqued your interest.
> 
> See ya next time!!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shorter chap but :))))

Zane was on the large main computer, searching every database he could for the book. He felt bad for doubting Kai so quickly, but the other had gotten riled up as well.

There was nothing on the book, almost as if was nonexistent, had vanished at some point. No info, no mention, no nothing. He had tried many search engines, many old databases, library websites. There was nothing to do.

He felt like he had failed.

He hit the keyboard, anger flashing through his system. Why had he been mad at Kai in the first place? What made him that mad? 

Was it that he was annoyed with Kai for running in the first place?

_ Or was he mad that Kai had a soulmate? _

…

Cole searched through Wu’s study fruitlessly, hoping to find the book. They had to find it before anything bad happened.

They wouldn’t let Jay fade, would they?

No. Cole would never let that happen to his best friend. And Kai would be absolutely devastated. 

The scars would disappear from his skin, no more soulmate for him.

Did he think of that as a good thing?

He shook the thought from his head.

_ No. Don’t think that. _

He turned on his com. “Having any luck, Lloyd?”

He waited for the green ninja’s garbled response.

_ And don’t think about your crush on Zane, either. _

…

“No luck just yet.” Lloyd responded, pulling out another book from the shelf.

Why Lloyd, of all of them, was chosen to search the dusty old library, he didn’t know. There was nothing he could find. He was bad with libraries. Last time he was in one, he destroyed it.

He scanned through the books, the titles all things he didn’t recognise. At this point, Lloyd would bet that he would miss it completely, he was getting so distracted.

He absentmindedly scratched the scar on his hand.  _ His soulmate’s.  _ Smiling, he continued on with looking.

_ What was that title again? _

…

“Can you imagine if I was the one to be captured?” Skylor asked, her legs crossed as he sat on the couch, staring at the ceiling.

“That’s kinda insensitive, don’t you think?” Nya asked back, a bite in her tone. She loved her soulmate dearly, but the girl could say things without thinking sometimes.

“I didn’t mean it like that, but, like, how would you feel if you were in Kai’s shoes?” 

“I’d be distressed, probably, I would get mad that I wasn’t believed, but I wouldn’t  _ run. _ ”

“Now, put yourself in Jay’s shoes.”

“I’d feel lonely.”

“Exactly.”

Nya gave her soulmate a look then shrugged, leaning against her. “Now, we need to help them find the book.”

“I’d have no idea where to find it.” Skylor picked at her nail. “Wait.” The master of amber sat up.

“What?”

“I have an idea of where it could be.”

“Where?” Nya’s spirits began to soar.

“My father’s island.”

...

“What are we going to do now?” Jay groaned, his face in his hands. Him and Kai were high up above the ground, flying through the air. Last he had checked, they were over the mountains. That had been a while ago. Now he had no idea where they were.

Kai was still mad, and wasn’t talking, only controlling the dragon and continuing straight on. There was no telling where he would be taking them. Far away, most likely. 

“Kai where are we going?”

Still no answer from the fire ninja.

“Kai please talk to me, it’s getting boring just sitting here.”

There was just more silence except for the sound of wingbeats and the rain hitting the dragon.

Jay found himself growing tired, his eyelids drooping. He began to slump forward, going to lean on his soulmate. He forgot about his spirit form, instead falling not on Kai, but  _ through _ him. 

The lightning ninja fell through the elemental dragon with a shrill scream, plummeting to the oh-so far-down valley below.

The rain and wind roared in his ears, a freezing fear seizing him. He was going down. No way of stopping himself. If he wasn’t able to summon his dragon in the first place, he wouldn’t be able to now.

Was he going to actually fully die this time? The first time it wasn’t  _ this  _ high up, but now, he didn’t know if that shock from the first time would multiply and fully kill him. “Kai!”

“Kai!”

He couldn’t see the dragon.

“Kai! Please!”

He tried to summon his dragon. If there was a chance, it had to come now.

“Please! Help!” His voice was lost in the wind as he fell.

He was growing closer to the ground, fear spiking him once more.

_ “Please don’t die, please don’t die, please don’t die…” _

He found himself plummeting into a deep darkness; water. 

The dark was suffocating, beckoning and pulling him down once more. He couldn’t swim upwards. He couldn’t escape. There was nothing letting him go, he was sinking deeper and deeper.

This spirit form was hurting him.

He was going to die.

By drowning.

_ God, how Kai would have been so much more scared. _

The light was growing smaller, unseeable, nothing left.

The dark was clouding his vision.

The last thing he saw was a red glow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comment, it fuels me


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> smaller chap, but i hope its worth it dhyfugudk  
> imagine it as a teaser perhaps

“Kai!” The fire elemental heard the yell and reared back his dragon. Was that…?

“Jay?” He looked behind him. “Jay? You here?” Kai began to panic. Had Jay already faded? Where was he? Had the rain gotten to him? Was water actually a weakness? Had he-

“Kai! Please!”

He heard the yell clearly that time. And it seemed to be coming from below. He pulled his dragon up and into a dive, to find Jay. Why he felt it was the right thing to do was beyond him, but, he did it anyway.

As he bulleted ever closer to the ground, the wind blew his already ruined hair back. His dragon’s wings were folded back, they were growing closer to the ground by the millisecond. He dashed after what he was chasing.

_ What if Jay was still on the dragon? _

It was then he saw the flicker.

He saw a flicker of a person.

“Jay!”

He forced his dragon to dive lower. The rain was hitting his face.

It was hard to see, but he was flicking, finally being able to be seen. He was flailing in the air. Nothing to help him.

He tried to go faster. Turning on his com, he spoke. “Help. Someone. I’m losing Jay. I’m losing him! He’s falling- Crap- WATER.” 

The other ninja had fallen into what seemed to be a lake. A splash resounded. Was he given a physical form?

“Jay!” He made no move to slow his dragon down as they dived into the lake. Sure, he was afraid of water, but this was important.

They made contact, water splashing and the dragon dissipating.

A fading blue glow was growing smaller in the water. He swam deeper and deeper as that was his goal. He needed to save Jay.

He ignored the slight shock from his com. He didn’t need it anymore. As long as he could get to Jay, everything would be fine.

It would all be fine.

If he could just get to him…

The water was pushing him up, he was getting sluggish.

Everything was going awry.

No saving him now.

Just had to…

Reach…

Jay…

It was taking forever, the water getting worse.

How deep was this?

Keep going…

Don’t stop.

The light was staying the same size now.

He could keep going…

He was…

The light was beginning to fade.

He was reaching the bottom…

Closer, now…

The light was weaker.

He just had to.

The chains and shackles and sluggishness of the water rolled off of him as he reached Jay, finally visible.

Kai couldn’t breathe. Jay couldn’t either.

He grabbed the other in his arms as the darkness closed in on him as well.

Their time was gone.

It was time to rest…

The water was peace...


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here is your next chapter <3

“Help!...” The voice in the com scared Nya. “Someone!...” The voice was Kai’s but his words were hard to make out through the static. “I’m losing Jay. I’m losing him!”

Nya turned on her mic. “Kai, what’s wrong? Kai! Please answer me.”

“He’s falling-...”

“Kai?”

“Crap- WATER.” His voice cut out as a splash was heard.

“Kai? Kai are you alright?” Nya sat straight up. “Kai? Kai?!?”

“Nya, what’s wrong?” Skylor put a hand on her soulmate’s shoulder.

“Kai. We need to get his location. Quick.” Nya stood up, tapping her com once more. “Zane, you there?”

“What? What’s wrong?” The master of amber was now up and walking as well.

“Zane, pick up…” Water hissed, hoping for something.

The com crackled. “Nya?”

“Thank God, Zane.” She sighed. “Did you get the thing from Kai?”

“Actually, I did.” Zane muttered through the communicator. “I am sending a message to Cole and Lloyd about this. Do you and Skylor wish to go out to the site to check it?”

Skylor sighed quietly. “I have to get going. Sorry, Nya.” She flashed a small smile as she walked away. “Tell the robo I wish him best regards.” She saluted and left the room.

Nya nodded quickly then spoke back to Zane. “Send me the coordinates. I will be there as soon as possible.”

…

“What was that?” Lloyd mumbled through the com, his voice sounding tired.

Zane sighed. “Again, Lloyd, we received a brief but important distress signal from Kai not even 10 minutes ago. I have sent Nya to go check it out. I believe Cole is also going. I was going to ask if you wanted to go as well, but it seems as if you need your rest.”

“Huh?”

“Lloyd, just come back to the bounty. You need to rest. We have got this for now.”

“Mhm. I’ll come back.” The green ninja’s voice was tired and slow. “What’s happening.?”

Zane groaned. “Get back here Lloyd. I’ll explain when you do.” The nindroid adjusted his line so he was talking on Nya and Cole’s. “How we doing?”

“I’m almost there.” Nya stated, “Cole?”

“I’m on my way, heh. Not that close just yet.”

Zane began. “So, he seemed to be falling or something, after Jay. Which, by what he said earlier and by what the scroll said, is in a coma-like state as a spirit. And, looking at the coordinates and what he said about water, they fell into a lake.”

“Wait, like when I was a ghost, I couldn’t touch water. Does that mean if Jay fell into the water, he…?” The earth elemental trailed off.

Nya gasped. “Cole, don’t think like that! Follow Jay’s directions! Stay positive!”

Zane clicked. “Just get there. We will see what is available to follow at the lake.”

There was a stretch of silence before Nya spoke up again.

“I’m there.”

…

“Nice, you see anything yet?” Cole asked, fixing his mask. “I’m almost there as of right now. Assuming by my place on the GPS, I will be there once I get over this mountain.” He reared his dragon up, floating over the mountain ahead of him. 

“Okay,” Nya spoke, “I can see you Cole, just land over by me.”

The black ninja grunted in a response as he landed, making his elemental dragon fade away. “Alright, how are we going to search?”

The water ninja mumbled something and she pulled up a holographic map. Pointing to a place on the map, it zoomed in. “Here are we, right next to the lake. Now-” She moved her finger over the lake on the screen. “Here is the last place we got communication from him, right before he hit the water. So, our best bet is to check out that area first.”

“How are we going to search-”

“Cole. I have water powers, remember?” Nya pinched the bridge of her nose. “I will lift some water so it will be enough for anything to stay at the bottom, but little enough-” 

Cole started to think about soulmates. Kai and Jay were. He was jealous. Them both having a soulmate, then him not having one, as he had reached the point at where it was almost impossible to get one.  _ His only chance was slim, very slim, and most people didn’t wait long before giving up. _

Sure, it meant he could pretty much choose anyone he wanted, as he was a strong believer of when you get a soulmate, you were to be with them. But, now that he knew that he probably wouldn’t get one, he decided to let his emotions control it. Better to love someone instead of getting rid of his hopes right away.

That was why he let himself have that crush on the nindroid.

“-and you will hopefully grab a clue. Got it?”

“Oh, sure. Got it.”  _ Well, bad idea to zone out now, rockhead. _

She sighed. “Right. You ready? Remember that you might not have much time.”

He nodded quickly, getting ready to go in as she lifted the water.

“Go.”

Before going, he noticed the lake was pretty deep, deeper than he thought it would be. Nya wouldn’t be able to hold it for a s long as he had hoped.

Cole jumped in, beginning to wade through the water in search of something,  _ anything, _ being careful not to disturb the silt and dirt on the bottom much. He scanned the bottom of the lake, keeping his eyes peeled. 

_ There it was.  _ Kai’s mask was buried in the mud. The earth ninja reached into the water and grabbed the mask. He could tell the communicator inside was damaged by the water and would never be able to be repaired, so he only held it as he looked once more around him.

A red glint caught his eye. Cole made his way over to see a hole underneath the water. Dirt and mud had begun to fill it up, but he snatched the two items within it. His arm was now soaked, but he had gotten what he wanted.

Two shiny scales.  _ One red, one blue. _

“Nya! I’m coming out! I found something!”

…

“We found Kai’s mask, and these scales.” Cole placed the items on the table.

“I get the mask, but why the scales?” Lloyd muttered, rubbing his eyes. 

Nya shrugged. “Cole decided they were important for some reason.”

“They are,  _ Nya. _ ” The earth ninja retorted, “I found them by the mask. They were in some kind of sinkhole or something under the water. Even if they aren’t directed to Kai and Jay, they have to be  _ something _ .”

“Yes. They seem quite odd in general.” Zane stated, picking up the red scale. “Dragon scales maybe? But to be underwater like that…” 

The green ninja was wide awake now. “Okay. That just sounds weird. And for them to be  _ red and blue? _ That can’t be a coincidence.”

“That is what I’m saying! Dragon scales, like Zane said, and them being red and blue like Kai and Jay? There has to be  _ something _ with it!” Cole replied, his eyes wide. 

“But what?” The ninja of ice hummed.

“I don’t know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope to write more soon lol  
> Jay and Kai i think might have another chapter or two off, but their arc isn't over yet.  
> Next chapter should be some of Cole and Zane's arc and maybe a bit of Lloyd's.

**Author's Note:**

> thank u for reading xD  
> i love comments, they fuel me  
> or you could just come bother me at ineedhelpwithmylifern.tumblr.com


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